In the feeding of large round bales, such has been done by standing the bale on end within an open frame enclosure through which the feeding livestock are able to pull the bale apart, while being prevented from stomping on fallen hay around the bale. Also, tractor mounted bale handing means have been used to rotatably support a bale in a manner to be rolled out on the ground for pick up by feeding livestock. In other instances, the round bale has been fed into tractor operated bale shredders, some of which were towed through a feeding area for discharging the shredded hay along the ground.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,071, a bale loading and transport machine is equipped with an outboard bale disintegrating unit which drops the material into a continuous stream on the ground or into a feed bunk. The bales can be transported end to end to a feeding location and then successively transferred to the disintegrating unit as the machine is advanced.
Applicant's bale feeding attachment is adapted to be mounted on bale handling machines such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,076,137 and 4,204,790. When the attachment is not in use, it is movable to a rest or storage position providing for a normal use of the machine for road travel and bale loading and transport purposes.